Thursday, June 22 2006 10:54 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

New Delhi: The Opposition NDA alliance yesterday (June 21,2006) petitioned President A P J Abdul Kalam over the nuclear deal with the United States, insisting there was no consensus in Parliament on the pact.

In their memorandum to Kalam, former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee, NDA convenor George Fernandes and BJP leaders L K Advani and Rajnath Singh and JD(U) chief Sharad Yadav alleged that most MPs opposed the March deal and that Prime Minister Manmohan Singh had misled Parliament regarding the nuclear agreement.

"Today, there is no consensus regarding the nuclear deal, nor is there any effort on the part of the government to build such a consensus. We believe that an overwhelming majority of Members of Parliament are against the deal," the NDA said.

The Opposition leaders also insisted that separation of civilian and military nuclear facilities, as required under the pact, was unwarranted.

"It is now clear from the statements made by US officials before US Congress that neither parity nor reciprocity will be made available to India under this deal. India will continue to be treated in a discriminatory manner, something we have been opposed to all along," the memorandum said.

The NDA maintained that a waiver authority bill introduced in the US Congress aimed to impose on India obligations more onerous than the CTBT.

"The present government cannot be allowed to undo the work of the last 60 years, to cap our strategic nuclear programme and to also expose our nuclear scientists to undue interference in their work from sources outside of India. We would like to state that such a deal cannot bind India in the future," the NDA said.